Some covers are widely acknowledged as better: Johnny Cash's Hurt, for an iconic example. Blinded by the Light as recorded by Manfred Mann. China Girl by Bowie, original by Iggy Pop (this one is debatable, maybe). Heck, Bowie has been known to cover his own material, and do it better the second time (no examples come to mind, but I'll think of one).

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poxic wrote:Some covers are widely acknowledged as better: Johnny Cash's Hurt, for an iconic example. Blinded by the Light as recorded by Manfred Mann. China Girl by Bowie, original by Iggy Pop (this one is debatable, maybe). Heck, Bowie has been known to cover his own material, and do it better the second time (no examples come to mind, but I'll think of one).

Bowie co-wrote China Girl. It originally appeared on one of the Bowie-produced Iggy albums.

I generally like Hendrix and SRV, but I can't stand Voodoo Child by either of them. I like Angelique Kidjo's version though. Her version of Gimme Shelter is also great.

The Monkees' cover of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer," of course. And UB40 did a good version of his "Red Red Wine." (Not ragging on Neil, he's brilliant. But gotta give props where they're due.)

Also, I love Bob Dylan as a songwriter, but blech, sometimes he doesn't do his own songs justice. Johnny Cash doing "It Ain't Me Babe" and Katie Melua doing "Blowin' in the Wind" are amazing. (Ironically, the Rolling Stones' cover of "Like a Rolling Stone" is NOT better. Ugh ugh ugh!)

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Glad to see nobody's mention any indie/alternative covers of rap songs. God those are terrible.

I like Okkervil River's cover of Sloop John B. (John Allyn Smith sails), but that's more just a folk song that was most famously performed by the Beach Boys, so I'm not sure if it counts as a cover.

Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah is better than Leonard Cohen's original, but he also leaves out one of my favorite verses, so it isn't like it makes it obsolete.

I prefer SunnO)))'s cover of For Whom The Bell Tolls better than Metallica's original, but that's mainly just because I like drone a lot more than I like Metallica, and the cover is hardly recognizable as such.

Six Organs of Admittance's cover of Thicker Than A Smokey (which I'd never heard before it) is potentially better than the original. It's pretty similar, but it sounds less polished and has more of the unstable, skilled but sloppy psych-folk drone trappings of Six Organs which work better than the more polished original, I think, for the psychedelic feel it's going for. Plus its placement on the album is perfect, a lot of covers seem sort of unnecessary but here it seems like anything but a cover of an old, obscure psych-folk song (except maybe the original itself) wouldn't have the same effect.

Grinspoon did a cover of INXS's "Don't Change" which is quite tidy, and I also like No Doubt's "It's My Life": whether those are better than their source material, rather than just updated, is debatable, but I fall towards the former opinion.

Izawwlgood wrote:Anything by an Irish punk rock band.

Blegh: I'm generally a fan of punk covers, but I don't rate Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly, if that's who you're referring to. They strike me a little as, "Have we mentioned that we're Irish in the last five minutes?"

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Second that. The same for her version of "Gloomy Sunday" and "The Thrill Is Gone".

I also like the Johnny Cash version of "One" (U2) much better than the original, and once you've heard the Judas Priest version of "Paint It Black" or Megadeth playing "Paranoid" you won't bother listening to the original again.

Oh, and "7 Seconds" by Love Like Blood.

"Tainted Love" by Coil, "The Final Countdown" by Laibach and "Like A Virgin" by Masonna are rather interesting covers too.

1337geek wrote:Also, I love Bob Dylan as a songwriter, but blech, sometimes he doesn't do his own songs justice. Johnny Cash doing "It Ain't Me Babe" and Katie Melua doing "Blowin' in the Wind" are amazing.

Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. There is no known universe where Katie Melua can do a Bob Dylan song better than Bob Dylan.

It's not the most original choice, but both John Cale and Jeff Buckley's versions of Hallelujah are great.

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1337geek wrote:Also, I love Bob Dylan as a songwriter, but blech, sometimes he doesn't do his own songs justice. Johnny Cash doing "It Ain't Me Babe" and Katie Melua doing "Blowin' in the Wind" are amazing.

Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. There is no known universe where Katie Melua can do a Bob Dylan song better than Bob Dylan.

I think the same could be said for any popular artist or band of today trying to do a cover of a song from 3 decades ago. I remember seeing a Target commercial with the Jonas Brothers doing a cover of the Beatles' "Hello Goodbye" and another where they did "With A Little Help From My Friends". I wanted to shoot myself.

"Imagine the great John Lennon spinning in his grave..."

Speaking of "With A Little Help...", I think the best cover was by Joe Cocker, which was used as the "theme song" for that old TV show "The Wonder Years."

As for best Dylan covers, Peter, Paul and Mary did a good cover of "Blowin' In The Wind", as well as covering John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

I think Seal did a good cover of Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like An Eagle".

Second that. The same for her version of "Gloomy Sunday" and "The Thrill Is Gone".

I also like the Johnny Cash version of "One" (U2) much better than the original, and once you've heard the Judas Priest version of "Paint It Black" or Megadeth playing "Paranoid" you won't bother listening to the original again.

Oh, and "7 Seconds" by Love Like Blood.

"Tainted Love" by Coil, "The Final Countdown" by Laibach and "Like A Virgin" by Masonna are rather interesting covers too.

I saw Diamanda do a Johnny Cash song live (or... a song Cash was known for - did he write it?) - "25 Minutes To Go".

The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

I like the covers of Hallelujah better than the original.

I generally prefer the Beatles' covers to the originals, such as Twist and Shout. Usually, the most famous version is famous for a reason.

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sje46 wrote:The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

sje46 wrote:The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

It's originally by the Beatles, not the Monkees.

That's clearly Townshend's voice.

General_Norris: Taking pride in your nation is taking pride in the division of humanity.Pirate.Bondage: Let's get married. Right now.

sje46 wrote:The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

It's originally by the Beatles, not the Monkees.

That's clearly Townshend's voice.

Nope, it's actually Ringo's, but I can see where one can easily get confused. A lot of their songs sound like other bands'. Some of their early works sound almost like something the Beach Boys would sing, or the Monkees.

And besides, Townshend was nowhere near those music hacks known as The Monkees. He was in The Who.

Scroll up a few posts and you'll see where I mentioned them covering Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" as well as Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane". I think their version of "Leaving" is better, because it's a bit slower, and more heartfelt. That, and I've heard it more than I have Denver's original.

sje46 wrote:The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

It's originally by the Beatles, not the Monkees.

That's clearly Townshend's voice.

Nope, it's actually Ringo's, but I can see where one can easily get confused. A lot of their songs sound like other bands'. Some of their early works sound almost like something the Beach Boys would sing, or the Monkees.

And besides, Townshend was nowhere near those music hacks known as The Monkees. He was in The Who.

Edit: Correct info about Pete Townshend.

WHOOOSH

I'm a huge Beatles and Who fan. Probably on these boards.

General_Norris: Taking pride in your nation is taking pride in the division of humanity.Pirate.Bondage: Let's get married. Right now.

1337geek wrote:Also, I love Bob Dylan as a songwriter, but blech, sometimes he doesn't do his own songs justice. Johnny Cash doing "It Ain't Me Babe" and Katie Melua doing "Blowin' in the Wind" are amazing.

Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. There is no known universe where Katie Melua can do a Bob Dylan song better than Bob Dylan.

Have you heard it? To each his own, of course, but I think she does it beautifully.

sje46 wrote:The first one that comes to mind is With a Little Help From My Friends, orig by the Monkees, covered by Joe Cocker. It's just...wow. There was a funny Youtube video up that they took down, that "translated" his mumbled singing into pictures.

I completely forgot about Nirvana's cover of The Man Who Sold The World until I heard it on the radio today. David Bowie is a much better songwriter than he is a performer, the cover gives it a passion and immediacy that the original version lacks.